Condition sensitivity: the quiet driver of vintage pricing

Print run alone does not explain vintage pricing. Centring tolerances, holo layer behaviour, edge wear and cutting practices vary enormously between sets and between print runs within a set.

The result is that some cards are common in circulation but extremely scarce in high grade, while others grade well and therefore trade closer to their print run.

When we shortlist a candidate, we look at the shape of the census across the full grade range before we look at the last sale price.